


i've been thinking of our future (i don't wanna fall asleep)

by iamalystark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Tony Stark, Car Accidents, Everyone Needs A Hug, Heavy Angst, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Natasha Romanov Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Near Death Experiences, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Tony Stark, Road Trips, Sort Of, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Worried Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:59:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamalystark/pseuds/iamalystark
Summary: Every limping step felt like fire running through her leg, and she had to bite her lip so hard she drew blood to keep from making noises of pain.The footsteps around them began to quicken in pace, and Nat heard the unmistakable sounds of guns cocking. Tony would be able to run away from the shots. She would not.
Relationships: Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 1
Kudos: 157





	i've been thinking of our future (i don't wanna fall asleep)

When the day first started out, Natasha was content. Her husband lied snoring beside her, and her son was probably just going to sleep because he’d stayed up all night watching movies with Ned. And she was okay. 

They had a busy day ahead of them, and they weren’t even going to see Peter until late that night, but right then, watching Tony’s rare, peaceful face, she was content. If only she’d known.

* * *

“Why even have a meeting there? I don’t unders-”

“Tony, they are the ones that graciously agreed to finally meet with us after you decided to bash their CEO while sleep deprived last year. You’re going.” Pepper said with an air of finality that Natasha was proud of. 

“To be fair, nothing I said was false.” The billionaire offered, and Nat rolled her eyes. 

“You’re lucky I’m coming with you, Dumbass. I could be going to get Peter from his friend’s right now.” The spy commented, shifting her weight from foot to foot. 

Tony spun to face her, a wide grin on his face. “You’re coming because you  _ love _ me.” He exaggerated, making a kissy face. 

Natasha locked eyes with Pepper and released a faux sigh. “Unfortunately.”

The ginger laughed, and Tony let out a squawk. Before he could spew some indignant comment, Pepper cleared her throat. “You really need to leave now if you want to make it in time.” Seeing the look on Tony’s face, she gave him a flat one of her own, “and you _ will _ be on time. Got it?”

Sighing, the brunet nodded. “I’ll make sure we’re on time, Pepper.” Natasha assured her.

With that, the CEO strode towards the elevator and disappeared behind the doors. “Can’t we just cancel it? Please?” Her husband begged, even pulling out the puppy dog eyes. Giving him a sweet smile, Nat leaned in as if to give him a kiss. 

“No.”

As she took the same path Pepper did to the elevator, she smiled softly at Tony’s dramatic whine.

* * *

“Okay, I’ve officially decided that I’m never leaving New York again.” Tony declared as he drove, his eyes glancing into the rearview mirror longingly, where the city was quickly getting smaller and smaller. 

“We’ll literally be back before tomorrow morning.” His wife told him, sighing, and he huffed. 

“I know, but, like, I miss it.”

That actually got a laugh out of her, to which Tony added a tally to his mental list. “You mean you miss the heated interior of your tower.” Nat corrected, giving him a pointed look. 

He looked over to her for a split second, before his eyes went back to the snow covered, icy road they were travelling on, and he pouted. “ _ Our _ tower, Love. And yes, yes I do, because even with a heating system I made myself, I can  _ still _ feel the cold seeping in.”

“It’s winter in New York, Tony. Of course it’s freezing out.”

“We’re not in New York anymore!” He cried, and Natasha rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. 

Despite her small argument with him, she couldn’t deny that it was absolutely freezing, and she stuck her chilled hands into the warm pockets of her jacket. She thought Tony was going a bit overboard with his coat since they wouldn’t be outside for longer than a minute or two to get inside the building the meeting would take place, but she wasn’t going to comment on it. 

Ever since Afghanistan, he did get colder a lot easier. “It’s probably just the old age.” She said finally, giving him a sly smirk. He scoffed, shooting a fake scowl at her. 

“I’ll have you know, I am 46 years young.” 

“And I’m ten years younger, Honey. Get used to it, you’re old.” Nat told him, her voice sickly sweet. 

“I hate you.”

“No, you _ love _ me.”

* * *

An hour or so later, they were both quiet, and Natasha was resting her head against the window and watching the trees go by as the sun began to set in the distance. She was tired enough that she probably could sleep if she wanted to, but wouldn’t, seeing as they’d be at their destination in under two hours.

“You think Peter’s home yet?” Tony wondered, and without looking to the time, Natasha hummed in affirmation. 

“Probably. Steve was going to pick him up a little while ago.” 

They lapsed back into an easy silence, and Natasha’s attention went back to the quickly passing terrain. A streak of black caught her attention for a moment, and she sat up to try to get a better look, but they’d already passed it, so whatever it was was lost to her. 

She slumped back in her seat, her breathing fogging against the window. “Is that. .? Holy  _ shit!”  _ Tony cried, and Natasha was alert in an instant as Tony jerked the wheel, causing the car to swerve off the road and spin a few times before it finally crashed into one of the trees in the forest around them. 

She didn’t even have time to wonder what her husband had seen before her head cracked against the glass and everything went dark.

* * *

Natasha woke up gasping. Her head was pounding furiously, and she didn’t have to feel her head to know that there was blood in her hair and covering her face. The next thing she became aware of was that her right leg felt like it was on fire.

Looking down at it, though, she discovered that was not the case. The door had basically crumpled like a tin can, the metal bent and broken, digging into various parts of her leg. It hurt like  _ shit _ . 

A shuddering breath left her then, and she clenched and unclenched her fists a few times to try and breathe through the pain. Besides a few small bruises and cuts that one would expect from a car accident, the only other major injury she could feel was the long bruise down her torso from her seatbelt, which was still buckled. 

It hit her like a light switch turning on, that Tony wasn’t making a sound, and her panic spiked as she looked to him, wincing through the pain that flashed through her skull at the slightest movement. 

“Tony!” The redhead cried, reaching to shove at his shoulder as she looked him over. He was leaning against the steering wheel, and there was dried blood streaked from his nose, which was no doubt broken. 

His shoulder looked dislocated if not broken from the force of hitting it against his door, and he had the same minor cuts and bruises she had littering his body. “Tony.” Natasha said again, shoving him, and was rewarded with a pained groan. 

“Come on, Tony. Wake up.” She ~~begged~~ said, bringing her hand up to wipe a bit of blood out of her eye, and she watched as he slowly blinked awake. 

He shot up the second he became aware of his surroundings, then cried out, bringing up his uninjured arm to hold the back of his head. “Oh God. Jesus.” He looked over to Nat, his eyes widening. “Shit, oh my- Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” She lied right away, flicking her eyes over him to see if she’d missed any other injuries. 

“Wrong. Anything broken?” He asked, and she almost said no, but then wiggled the foot of her right leg, which immediately resulted in a searing pain, and she bent over, gasping. Not just cuts from the metal, then. 

“Leg.” She finally rasped, then looking to him, “Anything broken besides your nose?”

Tony was watching her worriedly, his brows furrowed, and he tried to move his other arm, but winced. “No. Dislocated.”

Sighing, Natasha gently leaned back in her seat, reaching down and unbuckling her seatbelt. “What did you see in the road?” She asked, and it was like the memory suddenly came back to him, his eyes widening and breath hitching. 

“Shit. There was a black SUV just parked in the middle of the street. There was no way it wasn’t intentional, Tasha.” He told her, face full of concern. 

She thought back to the streak of black she’d seen, and narrowed her eyes. “I think I saw someone in the woods a few miles back. I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t mention it, but now that I think about it. . .”

“This was a purposeful attack.” Tony realized, gaze hardening, and she nodded. 

“What better way to get to two of the Avengers than when they’re without weapons and unexpecting of it?” 

Her husband’s face was grim, and he looked to his arm with a distasteful look on his face. “Fuck, this is gonna hurt.” 

He slammed his arm against the door, his shoulder popping back into place with a sickening crack. Natasha watched him. “I need you to get out of the car, then come around and help me out.”

Nodding, Tony took a deep breath and pushed open his door. The cold of outside immediately enveloped them even more than it already was through the broken windows, and it wasn’t a minute before Natasha began to shiver, hugging her jacket impossibly closer. Now, she wished she’d worn a coat just as thick as Tony’s. 

Before she knew it, he was on the other side of her door and frowning down at it. The window was shattered, so he could stick his head in to look at the damage more closely, and he was frowning in an instant. 

“Baby, if I just pulled the door open, it would cut your leg up bad. We need to get the metal out of it first.” He told her softly, and on some level she already knew that, but she was  _ not _ looking forward to it at all. 

“I need cloth to wrap around my hands.” Was her response, eying the sharp edges that would no doubt cut her hands open if she tried just pulling them out without anything to protect them. 

Tony took a shaky breath, and then grabbed the hem of his coat and began tearing. “What are you doing? You’ll freeze without a coat.” Natasha hissed. 

“And you’ll bleed out with pieces of metal in your leg.” He hissed right back, and she sat back in defeat, knowing he was right. 

Once he’d torn off two long strips, she accepted them from him and wrapped her hands as best as she could. Both of them looking to the mess that was her leg, they dreaded it. 

Natasha took a steadying breath, and gripped the first piece, curling her fingers around it, and she pulled. A whimper tore itself from her throat, and she bent the metal out of the way, biting her lip as blood soaked her wrapped hands. 

She repeated the process until all the pieces embedded in her skin were finally out, and Tony had taken a few steps away, his hand over his mouth and face contorted in pain. Finally, she was done, and her leg and hands were soaked in blood, her breaths unsteady and hands shaking. 

She was  _ freezing _ . “Okay,” Nat panted, “the door.” 

Tony’s footsteps back toward her were loud, the snow crunching beneath his feet, and he hissed in a breath when he took in the sight of all the blood. “Shit, Nat. . .”

He tugged at the door multiple times, grunting as pain flashed up his arm, and he quickly realized it wasn’t going to open. “You’re going to have to come out my door.” He murmured, stepping back, and Natasha closed her eyes for a minute, just breathing. 

A few seconds later, she opened them and nodded. “Okay.” And as Tony walked back around to the other side, Natasha shifted her seat, and began trying to climb over the center console, every single sore spot in her body flaring in absolute agony.

“Oh Go-” She bit her lip as hard as she could, squeezing her eyes closed. “Help.” She pleaded, and she didn’t think she’d ever sounded as vulnerable as she did just then. 

Within seconds, Tony was behind her, hooking his arms around her waist. “I’m so sorry, Baby, this is gonna hurt.” He whispered into her ear, voice unbelievably sad. 

“I know.” They both ignored the way her voice cracked, and Tony pulled her out of the car. 

Natasha  _ screamed. _

They landed on the frozen ground, both panting, and Natasha struggled to keep her breaths steady, her eyes squeezed closed and arms wrapped around her middle. She was only vaguely aware of Tony’s hands on her back, rubbing up and down comfortingly. 

Slowly, she managed to open her eyes again, taking deep, shuddering breaths. The first thing she saw was the blood streaked snow, and her still sluggishly bleeding leg. The second thing she saw made her stiffen, now alert. 

“Tony,” She said warningly, eyes locked on the ground a few feet in front of her. 

When Tony followed her line of sight, she could hear the audible hitch of his breath. Because, mere feet from where they'd crashed, there was a set of footprints circling the car, and trailing off into the woods. 

"Do you have your phone on you?" Her husband asked suddenly, urgency in his voice, and she knew not to question him, patting down her pockets for it. She gave him an apologetic look. 

He released a quick breath through his nose and jogged back over to the car, digging around in the driver’s seat area to see if he could find his. For a long, impatient moment, Natasha could only watch as he looked for it, her breath puffing in front of her in white clouds.

“Found it!” 

She released a relieved sigh, but didn’t let herself relax, surveying their surroundings just in case whoever had been watching them had lingered. “Shit,” Tony spat, “shit, shit, shit!” 

Natasha looked back to him, letting out a grunt as she managed to get herself into a sitting position. “What is it?”

“There’s no service at all. I can’t get through to anybody, can’t call my suit, and I can’t even call 911.” He told her gravely, shoving the phone into his coat pocket. 

Realization struck her. “Signal blockers.” 

Tony nodded in agreement then, and as if on cue, a shiver wracked his whole body. “We’ve gotta get out of this cold soon, or it’s going to get even more dangerous.” The redhead informed him, trying to ignore how her hands shook. 

“I’m pretty sure there are some cabins around here. Someone will let us in.” He said, walking back over to her. She knew he was right, but she also knew that the second she put any weight on her leg, she’d crumple.

“I can’t stand, Tony.”

“I know. I, on the other hand, have a perfectly good back to carry you on.” Her husband responded, flashing her a smile. 

She knew for a fact that he was just as sore as she was, but she also knew that there was no other way they were going to get out of there together. 

“This is the only time I’m allowing you to carry me, ever.” The spy said finally, one brow raised. 

He huffed. “Deal. But, once you’re healed, I fully expect a piggy back ride in return.” Tony informed her, and he crouched down in front of her. 

Despite her injuries, she still had the strength to wrap her arms around his neck and pull herself up. She squeezed her eyes closed once again as he carefully stood up, hooking his arms under her legs. 

Finally able to relax the slightest bit, Nat leant her head on his shoulder and just breathed. “Down the road or into the woods?” Tony asked, his voice rumbling against her chest. 

“Woods. They’d expect us to take the road because taking the woods is stupid.” She murmured, sniffling as her nose began to run from the cold. 

“Of course we take the stupid way.” Tony sighed, and began off into the trees. 

As the snow crunched and twigs cracked under his feet, she was almost able to unwind to the rhythm of his steps, but the fact that there was somebody out there, someone who had been and still could be watching them kept her alert. 

A sudden laugh from Tony had her jerking in surprise. “What?”

Shaking his head, he huffed softly. “I wonder how angry Pepper is right now that we missed the meeting.”

That had her giggling quietly against his neck when she normally wouldn’t have, but she needed something to distract her right then. “I think she’ll understand.”

“I don’t know. Have you seen Pepper when I miss meetings?” He teased, and Natasha rolled her eyes like they were just bantering in a normal situation. 

A chill ran down her spine then, and her teeth actually chattered. “I always thought people were just overreacting when they shuddered like that.” 

“Guess not.” The redhead replied, trying to sound amused. She failed, and he knew it. 

“I’m going to have the biggest cup of coffee to ever exist when we get home.” Tony murmured, his voice soothing. 

“No, you’re going to  _ rest _ when we get home.” She mumbled right back, shifting her head slightly so her chin was on his shoulder. 

“You take the fun out of everything.” He whined, and a small smile tugged at her lips.

“To be fair, you just crashed our car.” 

Scoffing, her husband shook his head exaggeratedly. “Somebody is plotting our deaths, Natasha. I couldn’t exactly help it.” 

His voice was teasing, but she could sense the tinge of guilt in his voice, and sighed. “Tony, it wasn’t your fault, okay? We would’ve been more hurt if we’d plowed into an SUV.” 

He didn’t respond, but she knew what he was thinking. They’d probably both need more therapy after this. “I love you, Tony. I don’t blame you.” She sighed out, yawning. Her fingers were beginning to go numb from the cold, and she clenched her fists a few times in an attempt to warm them up. 

“I love you too, Sweetheart. You gonna be awake much longer?” He replied, and she wondered why he sounded worried. 

“Course.” Nat mumbled, her eyes fluttering closed, and she thought, why not take a quick nap?

As her hold around his neck began to loosen, Tony jolted, digging his fingers into her legs. Crying out, she dug her hands into his shoulders, eyes wide as she panted through the pain. 

“What the  _ fuck _ , Tony?” Natasha hissed angrily, and he turned his head to look at her. 

“You were about to pass out, and that wouldn’t be good for either of us.” He responded lowly, then quieter, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.” 

Her face softened, and she sighed once again. “I know. I’m sorry, too. I’m awake.” 

She didn’t know how much longer she would be, though. As he continued walking, Natasha watched the blood drip from from her leg to the snow below. How long would it be before she bled out?

* * *

When she felt the first cold flakes begin to melt on her face, Natasha laughed weakly. Of course it would start snowing when they were stranded outside. “If it starts going down any harder than this, I’m just going to faceplant and give up.” Tony declared, stumbling a bit before he continued to walk. 

His shoes were soaked through with melted snow, and he was no doubt in an extreme amount of pain for carrying her for this long. Still, he carried on like everything was fine. “Anything?” She asked, her voice almost pleading.

The billionaire sighed. “Nothing. I feel like in this darkness, we’re going to walk right past a cabin and not even know it.” 

Nat wished that she didn’t believe him, and she hugged him tighter as a particularly cold gust of wind hit her, emphasizing the sting on her cheeks and ears. “D-Do you want to check if you have a signal yet?”

“I doubt it.” Tony mumbled, but pulled his phone out of his pocket nonetheless. “No.”

She hadn’t thought there would be. It was then, almost as if on cue, that the snow began to fall faster and harder than before, and Natasha was beginning to think she now knew how Steve had felt for seventy years. 

“That’s it, I’m do-”

“Shut up!” The spy hissed, and Tony scoffed. 

“What’s got your-?”

“Seriously, Tony, shut up.” She snapped, and he wisely closed his mouth. There. Her head snapped toward the darkness of the trees to their right.  _ Crack _ . 

“Somebody’s there.” She whispered in his ear, straining her ears to listen harder. More cracks, spread out. “Multiple people.” 

They didn’t have weapons, they were injured and outnumbered. There was no way Tony could run away while carrying all of her weight. But maybe. . .

“Let me down.” She commanded, and he scoffed. 

“Are you kidding me? You said it yourself, you can’t stand.” He grunted, tripping over a root and stumbling a few steps, looking warily to where they knew people were watching them. 

“I can’t stand on my own, but if you support some of my weight, we should be able to get away faster.” 

“No, okay? I don’t want to risk it.” The man denied, and a muscle ticked in Natasha’s jaw. Within seconds, she was turning her body into deadweight, and dropping to the ground. 

Her husband cursed, rushing to catch her, and she hissed as her feet made contact with the ground. “You idiot!” 

She glared at him. “You’re the idiot. Now help me, and let’s get out of here.” The spy demanded, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and leaning heavily into his side as he gripped her waist in return.

Every limping step felt like fire running through her leg, and she had to bite her lip so hard she drew blood to keep from making noises of pain. 

The footsteps around them began to quicken in pace, and Nat heard the unmistakable sounds of guns cocking. Tony would be able to run away from the shots. She would not. 

It was then that she saw it, the faint light in the distance of a wooden cabin. It had to be almost a mile away, but Tony could make it. She just needed to buy him some time. “You see it?” She questioned.

“Yeah. You ready?”

His wife smiled shakily. “I am.” And she shoved him away from her, toward the cabin, and fell against a tree. 

“Natasha! What the hell is wrong with you?” He cried, trying to step closer to her. 

“Get to the cabin, get help, and come back. I’ll be okay.” She instructed him, her breaths wheezing as she clung to the bark of the tree in front of her. 

“Are you insane? No way in  _ hell _ am I leaving you here!” Tony fumed, stepping even closer. 

“Anthony Stark. You get to that cabin now. For our son.” Natasha spat, face contorted in anger. 

He looked as though she’d struck him across the face. “Go. I’ll be fine.” She told him, nodding. 

He pursed his lips. “God damnit, Tasha.” With that, he took off in a run. 

The redhead looked into the darkness then, searching for them. “Well? I know you heard us! I know you’re there! The Avengers are coming, you might as well take out the one Avenger you can!” She yelled, rage enveloping her. 

They stepped into view. Natasha laughed loudly at the HYDRA insignias on their uniforms, and launched herself at the first person she saw. 

She’d knocked his gun away and snapped his neck before the others could even react, and though everything in her body hurt beyond words, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she’d beat them. 

The next man, she was shoving to the ground as hard as she could, and she landed on him with a grunt, using his own gun to bash in his skull. Just when she was about to go after another of them, one of their guns went off, and she froze. 

She’d been shot enough times to know that it had happened once again. Her gaze dropped to the growing red stain on her stomach, and she trembled. “Oh.”

Her legs finally gave out, and she crumpled to the ground beside the men she’d just killed, her hands finding her newest wound on instinct. Even as she could feel the life draining out of her, she found a sort of sick amusement in the fact that she enjoyed the warmth that her blood provided for her hands.

“It seems the Black Widow isn’t as great as everyone believes.” One of the HYDRA agents sneered, grinning, 

“Still. . . greater than. . . your mom.” It seemed Tony was rubbing off on her. 

The agitated man aimed his gun at her head, but the other man put his hand on his arm. “Don’t. She deserves the slow death we are giving her. Look at the pain in her eyes.”

He listened, crouching down in front of her with a smirk. “Aw, is the Widow afraid to die?” He mocked, his voice high.

And as much as she wanted to say that he was wrong, that she’d die with dignity, she  _ was _ afraid. She didn’t want to leave Tony or Peter or the team. She wanted to stay. Coughing, a flare of pain rippled through her, and blood wetted her lips. 

After all she had been through, it felt unfair that she would die here. “F-Fuck you.” Natasha gasped, her whole body shuddering in pain and because of the cold. 

Her ears began to ring then, and her eyes drifted away from the men and to the sky. She had to admit, the stars were beautiful that night. She thought she saw a streak across it at some point, but she wasn’t sure. Her vision was blurring, darkening. 

_ Is this the end? _ She thinks,  _ It’s not so bad. _

There were muffled noises suddenly, disrupting the peaceful silence Natasha had accepted, and then Tony was there, his armor wrapped around him and shining in all its glory. He was worried, she noticed, his mouth moving and his brows furrowed. She didn’t hear him. 

“I love you.” She tried to say. She thought she said it, she wasn't sure. But he knew, and that was enough for her. Finally, it was over, and it was dark.

* * *

The beeping sound was annoying, was her first thought. Her second was  _ ow. _ Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and Natasha saw Peter first, sitting in a chair beside her bed, staring at the floor. She saw Tony next, watching her from the bed on her other side.

“I swear to God, Nat, if you ever pull anything like that again, I’m going to fucking lose it.” Her husband told her, and she could tell he was serious.

“My bad.” 

He gaped at her. “Mom.” Nat looked back towards her son, and found his wide, tearful eyes locked on her. 

“Oh, Baby, come here.” She held out her arms gently, and he wasted no time in jumping up and wrapping his arms around her as carefully as he could. 

The pain felt minimized by like, a hundred, so she assumed she was on the good stuff. “Everyone was so worried. You were missing for hours, and then Dad’s suit was suddenly summoned, and he called and said everyone needed to get there right away and that you were hurt bad, and I was so scared, Momma. I thought you were gonna die.” The teen’s voice cracked as he rambled, and he rubbed at his eyes to keep tears from falling.

“I’m okay, Pete. I’m okay.” Natasha murmured into his ear, running her hand through his curls. He sniffled.

“No, you’re not.” Tony said softly from beside them.

She took a moment to think about that. “You’re right,” she admitted, “but I will be.”

That, they all believed.


End file.
